Eeklo - Mostly Again. October 24-30, 2014.

Friday, October 24th

We drove from Luxemburg City to Eeklo by way of Bastogne, where we visited the Bastogne War Museum; another very well done museum, very worthy of a visit; and the American Memorial / Mardasson Memorial. We spent about 3 hours taking it all in.

The Soldier and The General.

The Memorial.

After battling rush hour traffic on the ring road around Brussels we eventually pulled into Eeklo. Naturally, after parking Sterlin, we headed to De Kabouter for some well deserved libations after a long day driving and visiting museums.

Luc, Peter, Conchita, Caroline and Stephen.

Saturday, October 25th

A relaxing day. We moved a couple of mattresses into Stefaans new apartment. And a nice place he has. In the evening, Caroline and Hilde drove to Antwerpen to see the Chippendales with the free tickets Caroline scored in Switzerland.

Sunday, October 26th

We started to clean Sterlin for his trip home. First up we tackled the fridge and the rather dusty fridge slide. It was not long before we gave up on that and decided to help Stefaan move into his new apartment driving a load of goodies from his old place to his new place.  In the evening we had a few drinks and nibbles with Erik and Kristin.

Monday, October 27th

Sterling got a proper clean. First was the carwash followed by a vacuum session back at Caroline's mum's home. The main event of the day was a visit to Tante Erna's place with Roland, Alice and Magda. We had the usual Belgian fare of coffee/tea, cakes (2 rather nice and large ones), a wee drink followed by vast amounts of cheese. It was all very nice.

On the way there we made a flying visit to the Canadian War Memorial in Adegem, just outside of Eeklo. Wikipedia link to the Canadian War Cemetery.

Evening drinks with Stefaan.... in De Kabouter - where else.

Tuesday, October 28th

A long day spent packing everything into Sterlin for the trip home. We had to keep behind just 'enough' clothes to survive for the next month until we get home. We had very nice drinks with Isabelle in 'Eethuis De Raedt'.


Wednesday, October 29th

Spent the day cleaning the car and removing the tar. Damaged Sterlin's paintwork in the process. Eventually found a way to remove the tar using some magic product that Erik fixed me up with. Eventually completed the packing and made inventory.

That evening we had a lovely time catching up with Hilde (Caroline's cousin), Peter and their son Victor.

Stephen, Caroline, Hilde and Peter.

Thursday, October 30th

Drove Sterlin to Rotterdam.

Luxembourg. October 23-24, 2014.

Thursday, October 23rd

We arrived in the late afternoon into Luxembourg. Our little hotel was smack bang in the middle of the local Red Light district, which made parking Sterlin a little challenging, but we found a safe enough spot for the night. We had a few online chores to do before we headed into the city to explore.

The city is very nice, but quite small. We found a very nice pub and then later a good little restaurant. While we were walking around we happened to see the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, or his son. It was a brief sighting, as he was whisked into a fancy car and drove away with a police escort.

Friday, October 24th

In the morning we visited the American Cemetery and Memorial located a few miles outside of Luxembourg city, in Hamm.

Beautiful Cemetery.

Patton is buried here.

How easily the world forgets.

Heidelberg. October 21-23, 2014

Tuesday, October 21st

We left Switzerland and headed in the direction of Liechtenstein. We were barreling along the freeway when our trusty Garmin decided we should take an exit and cross into Austria. We didn't intend to go to Austria, but hey, why not. We crossed the border with ease, only to find we didn't have a special sticker to drive on the Austrian Freeways. So we weaved our way through the baby streets until we entered Germany and could get back onto the faster roads. The rest of the drive to Heidelberg was uneventful.

Our arrival in Heidelberg was accompanied with terrible rain. The good weather of the last week had definitively switched to winter weather.

After settling into our boardinghouse we let our friend Marianne know we'd arrived. A little later the three of us were enjoying champagne at her (temporary) place. Later we went out to dinner and were joined by Andrea, Marianne's friend. We had a lovely evening chatting and catching up.

How often do you see that?
Directions to 3 countries on 1 sign!

Wednesday, October 22nd

For breakfast the 3 of us went to 'Schwarzer Walfisch', a lovely cafe just around the corner. After a look-see at Marianne's Heidelberg home, under heavy restoration at the moment, we went for a forest walk along Philosophenweg (Philosophers' Way). Later that afternoon we visited Schloss Heidelberg (Heidelberg Castle). The bad weather stayed away for most of the day which was very considerate. The evening was dinner in a nice, casual Italian restaurant with Marianne. We said our goodbyes with Caroline hoping to see Marianne again in South Africa!

Altstad - Heidelberg

The tramcar to the Heidelberg Castle.
2 tracks merging into 1, can't be good.

Thursday, October 23rd

To be written.

Arvenbuel, Amden. October 18-21, 2014.

Saturday, October 18th

It was a short 70km drive from Zurich to Arvenbuel. The weather was absolutely perfect and provided a wonderful introduction to this part of Europe. The scenery was a little bit like New Zealand, only more beautiful (according to Stephen). We were looking for the Arvenbuel Hotel, which we found on a lush green meadow plateau, surrounded by rocky cliffs and cows with their noisy swiss cow bells. Once we found the hotel, it took even less time to find Barbara.

Caroline and Barbara worked together in the Sydney Sheraton several moons ago. Barbara said we could always visit the family owned and run hotel. If we had known how beautiful the scenery was we wouldn't have waited 15 years to make the journey here. We sat down on the terrace in the blazing sun for coffee and the famous Arvenbuel Hotel Plum tart (with whipped cream).

We went for a short walk to explore the viewpoint looking over Walensee (the lake). The mountains were beckoning Stephen, so he took off for several hours to find the local peak, Gulmen, to climb.

The fine weather meant the hotel and restaurant were extremely busy and unfortunately also meant Barabara was run off her feet. So we didn't have much time to catch up that day.

View from our room.

Hotel Arvenbuel

Gorgeous view a short walk away.

A bit further and higher afield.

Sunday, October 19th

After a leisurely breakfast we jumped into Sterlin and headed off to Liechtenstein. We took the back road over the mountain and were rewarded with some stunning scenery and forest views. The road was narrow with many twists and turns but quite delightful. We found out later that cars are not permitted on this road and we were lucky not to get caught by the Police.

Liechtenstein, or more accurately Vaduz (the Capital City of Liechtenstein), was fun for a half day. We wandered up and down the tiny shopping street before deciding the best thing to do was have some food. Being Sunday all the shops, some tacky souvenir stores excluded, were closed. After lunch we took a lovely stroll up the hillside to the castle, which still houses the Princely Family of Liechtenstein. For that reason the castle is not open to the public. Some more strolling brought us back to the city center. We visited the Post Office museum, one of the main attractions. And then we headed back to Switzerland and an even more exhausted Barbara. The great weather was really attracting the hikers and visitors. Like the previous night, we took dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Leichtenstein Castle

Monday, October 20th

Caroline agreed to wake-up at 2am in the morning to help Barbara check-in a large group of hotel guests. Who knew that the Chippendales were on their Forever Sexy World Tour and would be staying in Arvenbuel for the next 2 nights. Caroline managed to talk herself into some free tickets to one of their shows in Belgium.

Barabara had the day off and spent the day with us playing tour guide. It was very nice to be able to spend some quality time with her. We visited the Seerenbach Falls which might be the highest waterfalls in Europe. We had a nice lunch to finish off our visit.

Once back at the hotel, Stephen headed back up Mt Gulmen, while Caroline and Barbara made up for the last 15 years. We had post-dinner drinks with the extended family which was delightful.

Country life

Church

Barbara and Caroline and the waterfall.

Tuesday, October 21st

We said goodbye with plans to see each other in California soon.

Bern and Zurich. October 16-18, 2014.

Thursday, October 16.

We set off 'reasonably' early towards Zurich, to have time to spend lunch and the afternoon in Bern. And so we did. While driving to Bern we experienced some heavy rains, but, by the time we got to Bern they eased and stopped, making for an enjoyable afternoon wandering around Bern Old City, Unesco World Heritage Site.  Lattes, lunch, the Einsteinhaus, ...

Einsteinhaus.

Early evening we continued on to Zurich where we, successfully, went in search of an Irish Pub for some dinner and drinks.

Friday, October 17.

We spent most of the day wandering around town, on a beautiful autumn day. I (Caroline) really really liked Zurich (but for some reason we don't seem to have a lot of photos). Naturally the waterfront was lovely but I preferred the rest of town, a bit away form the main 'tourist' area. With its extensive tram network, cafés and restaurants it somehow reminded me of Gent, Belgium. And there was a Wagamama in town :).
The photo thing might be explained that I saw it more as a place that I could live as opposed to a place to be a tourist... I don't know...

Geneva. October 14-15, 2014

Tuesday, October 14th (Wedding Anniversary)

Getting a reasonably priced hotel in Geneva proved to be quite difficult. So we instead booked a hotel in Annemasse, France, which was a 20 minute walk from the Swiss border. A great plan that only fell short by selecting a bit-of-a-dud hotel, oh well. On the positive side, we did walk into Geneva and had a wonderful time exploring the city. As it was our wedding anniversary, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner Vino Olio Cafe and evening in Geneva.

Wednesday, October 15th

Another day split between Geneva and our French based hotel. We had another good day being tourists in Geneva.

Le Puy-en-Velay and Annemasse. October 13-14, 2014

Monday, October 13th

We said goodbye to Luc and headed off in search of the Millau Viaduct, which happens to be the tallest bridge in the World. We stayed on the smaller backroads which was a good choice. After a few hours we made it to the Millau Viaduct rest area and viewing point. Quite an impressive bridge really.

In the afternoon we continued along the slower backroads to Le Puy-en-Velay. During the drive we experienced some hail, heavy driving rains and quite a spectacular lightning show. All of which cleared up by the time we pulled up to our hotel for the night. Dinner was at a nearby and nondescript restaurant.

Tuesday, October 14th

Another longish driving day, although lovely as were back in the mountains.

Gindou. October 9-12, 2014.

Thursday, October 12

After breakfast we said goodbye to Kim and Vaughan and headed to Gindou, about 160km north of Toulouse. We arrived at our good friend Luc's just after noon. Gindou is a small hamlet away from just about everything and turned out to be the perfect place to relax for a few days.

Le Mély, Luc's place in Gindou.

Friday, October 10th

The weather was not so good with some rain outside which was the main reason we spent the day inside relaxing. It had been a while since we'd taken a pure relaxing day... no visits or touristy things or anything. Also used the time to arrange for Sterlin to be shipped back to the United States. Turned out that there was a lot of paperwork involved even though Sterlin is from the US. There was a form for the EPA to confirm the emissions and a form for DOT to confirm road safety. Of course there were also the regular customs forms. Ok, so some work was done.

Dinner was at Restaurant la Casserole in the nearby town of Salviac. We had a mighty fine 4 course fixed price menu.

Dinner with Luc at La Casserole.

Saturday, October 11th

After a relaxing breakfast we drove 40kms north to Sarlat-la-Canéda for lunch and some sight-seeing of the 14th century medieval town. It was indeed quite beautiful and very well preserved. The south of France is quiet at this time of year, but there are little gems like Sarlat with markets and little coffee shops.

For dinner Luc prepared the most amazing dish with duck. Luc is quite the accomplished cook.

Lunch at Sarlat-la-Canéda

Caroline in Sarlat-la-Canéda

Dinner with Luc (again)

Sunday, October 12th

After breakfast the engine bay of Sterlin was cleaned and inspected for issues. No issues were found. After lunch we walked to Les Arques to visit the church, cemetery and La Musée Zadkine. It was a lovely walk in the sunshine and great to get out of the house for a few hours.

Dinner was prepared by Luc and was the most amazing rabbit and homemade apple sauce. In fact the apples were from Luc's garden. Two of Luc's old friends popped around and they helped us enjoy a few drinks.

Stephen cleaned and checked Sterlin (prior to shipping)

Inside the Musée Zadkine

Mushrooms everywhere after the rain.

Last dinner at Le Mély - we'll be back one day!

Toulouse and Carcassone. October 7-9, 2014.

Tuesday, October 9th

We arrived in Toulouse and had parked Sterlin at Kim and Vaughn's place, just as Vaughn came home from work. We spent 2 nice evenings reminiscing about our trip - Kim and Vaughan are 2 of our convoy partners through China.

Hard to believe we have been on the road for exactly 500 days. But it is true and we celebrated with a fine meal in a nearby restaurant and a few drinks.

Wednesday, October 8th

On the second evening we went for a late night stroll in the city center, under a full moon.

Wednesday, October 8th.

We went for a day trip to the Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, and, another place on my list of wanna-see-places-in-France. And another splendid visit it was.

Fortified City Wall.

Inside the walls.

Inside the walls.

Detail.

Nantes, Bordeaux, Dune du Pilat. October 5-7, 2014.

Sunday, October 5th.

On the way to Nantes we made a flying visit to St Malo. We planned to stop for a quick coffee and a look around, but all of the parking was height restricted so we made a u-turn at a round-about and continued South. Oddly enough that round-about was the most westerly point that Sterlin made on the trip at 2.023959°W.

We arrived in Nantes in the evening, checked into a hotel and went for an evening walk in search for dinner.

Nantes Cathedral.

Nantes by night.

Monday, October 6th.

Drove to Bordeaux, got there in the evening, by which time the rain had stopped. We went for an evening stroll and meal in the city's UNESCO World Heritage City Center.

Tour Pey-Berland.

Bordeaux Cathedral.

Tuesday, October 7th.

Before heading to Toulouse we made a detour to La Dune du Pilat, which, with a height of 109-110 meter, is Europe's highest dune.

Windy at the top of the dune.